The U.S. Supreme Court has announced its long-awaited decision regarding the constitutionality of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. The Supreme Court has upheld the Affordable Care Act.
On behalf of our 200 member hospitals and health systems, and the patients and communities they serve, we applaud the Court’s decision.
Illinois hospitals have long supported increasing health care coverage for the uninsured and eliminating exclusions for pre-existing conditions and coverage caps. As a result of the Supreme Court’s decision, as many as one million uninsured Illinoisans will be able to afford coverage through expansion of the Medicaid program and the Illinois Health Insurance Exchange when it is established.
Research clearly shows that having health insurance has a direct positive impact on an individual’s health and quality of life. But health care reform is just as important for those who already have health insurance.
While many organizations have been waiting for this ruling to act on health care reform initiatives, Illinois hospitals already have been working to transform the health care delivery system by making health care more accessible and affordable for patients.
In conjunction with IHA’s Quality Care Institute, our hospitals are moving forward with numerous quality initiatives designed to re-shape the health care delivery system and improve accountability and transparency.
As we state in IHA’s vision statement: All individuals and communities deserve access to high quality health care at the right time and in the right setting to support each person’s quest for optimum health.
This continues to be our guiding direction now and into the future.
